your favorite finish

Mungo Park · Apr 10, 2011

I have been looking through the posts and seeing some spectacular builds with some really beautifull wood. What is your favorite way to finish to bring out the best in your wood. A lot ogf the build threads do not really give much finish detail. Cheers Ron.

wickedwahine11 · Apr 10, 2011

I'd have to say gloss. I think that satin is quite beautiful, but for me, it is gloss finish that really brings out the grain in the wood -- case in point, I had my Kamaka refinished from a satin to a gloss and I have never regretted the decision.

Lori · Apr 10, 2011

I love gloss the most, for bringing out woodgrain. My second favorite would be a hand rubbed oil finish.

–Lori

Kekani · Apr 10, 2011

Mungo Park said:
What is your favorite way to finish to bring out the best in your wood.

If you asked this as separate questions, you'd probably get more answers, which I how I'll answer.

Favorite way to finish: spraying, without question

Bringing out the best in wood: French Polish

As for the rest of the finishing techniques, there are too many resources on the net that cover this already.

-Aaron

Mungo Park · Apr 11, 2011

Arron, yes, in hindsight the question is to vauge.
I was more thinking what finish, more than process, as in shellac, tru oil....
Cheers Ron.

Kekani · Apr 11, 2011

Mungo Park said:
Arron, yes, in hindsight the question is to vauge.
I was more thinking what finish, more than process, as in shellac, tru oil....
Cheers Ron.

If it were accepted, I'd love to finish `ukulele in two coats of shellac, sprayed, with an open pore finish. Superlight finish, high gloss buffable, repairable. I could probably reduce the cost of the instrument by about 20-25% if I could do that. . . Then I'd make up the cost in refinishing everytime there was a ding in the instrument. This would be like a toilet paper `ukulele. . . gotta keep putting money there.

As it stands, I love spraying polyurethane, then lacquer. But I use lacquer, just because it suits me and gloss finishes. Although, my personal bass is oiled.

-Aaron

ksquine · Apr 11, 2011

I like an initial rub down with boiled linseed oil to bring out the grain and give some nice warm color. It just ads that nice honey/amber tone....espeically on koa and mango wood

thehappyukulele · Apr 13, 2011

This is milk paint…certainly non-traditional but it's very environmentally friendly. There are no scary chemicals or noxious odors and I can really personalize it. It obviously covers the wood grain but it allows me to use very common woods like Poplar to reduce my use of exotic hardwoods. Not for everyone but I love working with it.

Mraz · Apr 13, 2011

That milk paint is very cool! Nice uke!

pdxuke · Apr 13, 2011

Just a buyer here, but I wish more ukes had a satin finish. I prefer it.

BR Ukuleles · Apr 13, 2011

It's an odd thing. If I build a spec instrument then I usually put a matt finish on it. Oil or lacquer. They all sell. But I've never received a commission for an instrument with anything other than a high gloss finish. They are willing to pay the extra for it, so how can you argue with that.

thehappyukulele · Apr 13, 2011

Mraz said:
That milk paint is very cool! Nice uke!

Hey thanks. This one was made for an ultra-marathon runner. The course profile of the Western states 100 mile run is on the side. I lay down the milk paint in layers and then selectively sand through to the layers underneath. The nice thing is that milk paint starts out very rough looking but the more you play your ukulele, the shinier it gets. So instead of getting scratched and worn, these get prettier and prettier.

your favorite finish

Mungo Park

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wickedwahine11

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Lori

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Kekani

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Mungo Park

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Kekani

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ksquine

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thehappyukulele

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Mraz

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BR Ukuleles

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thehappyukulele

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